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John C Cruden News

13 Jan 2017

US Sentences Greek Shippers for Obstruction, Pollution

Two Greek shipping companies were sentenced to pay corporate penalties totaling $2.7 million after being convicted for obstructing justice, violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), tampering with witnesses and conspiracy. Each company was ordered to pay part of its penalty to Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary in recognition of the threat posed by illegal discharges of oily waste to the marine environment. The case stems from an inspection of the M/V Ocean Hope, a large cargo ship, conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard at the Port of Wilmington, N.C. in July 2015. During that inspection, senior engineers for the companies tried to hide that the vessel had been dumping oily wastes into the ocean for months.

08 Dec 2016

Ship Engineers Receive Prison Sentences for Pollution Crimes

Cassius Samson, 52, and Rustico Ignacio, 66, both of the Philippines, were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard for the Eastern District of North Carolina to serve jail time for obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard inspection that took place in July 2015 aboard the cargo ship Ocean Hope at the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina. Samson was sentenced to a term of 12 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release and Ignacio to a term of nine months followed by a year of supervised release. Ignacio was the chief engineer and Samson the second engineer of the Ocean Hope. In September 2016, both were convicted of conspiracy, violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, by a federal jury in Greenville, North Carolina.

28 Oct 2016

Tuna Vessel Operator Convicted on Pollution Charges

An American tuna fishing company that regularly unloaded its catch in American Samoa, was convicted and sentenced today for discharging oil into the South Pacific and for maintaining false records, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden of the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips for the District of Columbia. The company, Pacific Breeze Fisheries LLC, owned the Fishing Vessel F/V Pacific Breeze, a tuna purse seiner that was responsible for the pollution. Pacific Breeze Fisheries admitted that its engineers failed to document the illegal dumping of oily bilge water into the waters off American Samoa without the use of required pollution prevention equipment.

26 Oct 2016

German Shipping Firms Convicted of Environmental Crimes

Two German shipping companies that owned and operated the Motor Vessel (M/V) Nils B, pleaded guilty today to an environmental crime in federal court in San Diego before the Honorable Jan M. Adler, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden and United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy. W. Bockstiegel Reederei GmbH  & Co. KG (which operated the vessel) and W. Bockstiegel GmbH & Co. Reederei KG MS “NILS B” (which owned the vessel), pleaded guilty to one felony violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to accurately maintain an oil record book for the M/V Nils B. In doing so, the firms failed to disclose that oil contaminated water had been discharged into the ocean from the vessel without the use of pollution prevention equipment.

11 Apr 2016

DSD to Pay $2.5 Mln for Illegal Oil Discharging

The Norwegian shipping company DSD Shipping (DSD) was sentenced to pay a total corporate penalty of $2.5 million as a result of its convictions in Mobile, Alabama, for obstructing justice, violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), tampering with witnesses and conspiring to commit these offenses. The company was ordered to pay $500,000 of the penalty to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab Foundation to fund marine research and enhance coastal habitats in the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay. In addition, DSD was placed on a three year term of probation and was ordered to implement an environmental compliance plan to ensure the company’s vessels obeyed domestic and international environmental regulations in the future. The sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General John C.

18 Mar 2016

U.S. DOJ: Shipping Companies Fined $1.5M for Illegal Discharges

The German shipping companies Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG and Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG MS “Extum,” who owned and operated the cargo ship M/V BBC Magellan, pleaded guilty today to failure to maintain an accurate oil record book, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and tampering with witnesses by persuading them to provide false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard concerning a bypass hose on the vessel that was being used to discharge oil into the sea. The two companies were sentenced to pay a total of $1.25 million in fines and a $250,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund projects that enhance coastal habitats of the Gulf of Mexico and bolster priority fish and wildlife populations.

14 Dec 2015

Ship Officers Charged in Oil Discharge Cover Up

A federal grand jury in Greenville, North Carolina, has returned a nine-count indictment charging two engineering officers employed by Oceanfleet Shipping Limited with crimes relating to the illegal discharge of oily wastes directly into the sea, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Oceanfleet Shipping Limited is a Greek shipping company that operates the cargo carrier M/V Ocean Hope. The two engineering officers indicted are the vessel’s Chief Engineer, Rustico Yabut Ignacio; and Second Engineer, Cassius Flores Samson, bolth of the Philippines.

23 Nov 2015

New Charges in 2012 Fatal Platform Blast

West Delta 32 platform after the explosion (Photo: BSEE)

Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC, Grand Isle Shipyards Inc., Wood Group PSN Inc., as well as Don Moss, 46, of Groves, Texas, Curtis Dantin, 50, of Cut-Off, La., and Christopher Srubar, 40, of Destrehan, La., have been charged with crimes for a November 2012 explosion on an oil production platform that resulted in the death of three workers, the injury of others and an oil spill, announced the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

11 Nov 2015

DSD Shipping Convicted of Environmental Crimes

A federal jury in Mobile, Alabama, has convicted Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab AS (DSD Shipping) and three employees with obstructing justice, violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), witness tampering and conspiracy, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama. DSD Shipping is a Norwegian-based shipping company that operates crude oil tankers, including the M/T Stavanger Blossom. Also convicted at trial were three senior engineering officers, Bo Gao, Xiaobing Chen and Xin Zhong, employed by DSD Shipping to work aboard the vessel. A fourth employee, Daniel Paul Dancu, pleaded guilty in October.

29 Oct 2015

Fishing Company Charged Over $1 Mln in Oil Spill Penalties

Photo courtesy of Tri-Marine

Tri-Marine Management Co., Tri-Marine Fishing Management and Cape Mendocino Fishing (Tri-Marine) have agreed to pay $1.05 million in civil penalties and to perform fleet-wide inspections and other corrective measures to resolve claims stemming from an October 2014 oil spill in American Samoa and related violations of spill prevention regulations, the Department of Justice and the Coast Guard announced today. In its complaint, filed today along with the lodging of a consent decree in the U.S.

17 Jun 2015

UK Shipping Company Fined for Environmental Crimes

Norbulk Shipping UK Ltd, a company based in Glasgow, U.K., and operator of the reefer cargo ship M/V Murcia Carrier, pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an accurate oil record book in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and providing false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) concerning the vessel’s garbage record book. The company was sentenced to pay a criminal penalty of $750,000 and placed on three years of probation by the Honorable Joseph H. Rodriguez, the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced today. “Our oceans are life giving and life sustaining resources that our country and our world depend upon,” said Assistant Attorney General John C.

14 May 2015

DSD Shipping Indicted on Environmental Crimes

A federal grand jury in Mobile, Alabama, has returned a seven-count indictment charging Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab AS (DSD Shipping) and four employees with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), conspiracy, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown for the Southern District of Alabama. DSD Shipping is a Norwegian-based shipping company that operates the oil tanker M/T Stavanger Blossom, a vessel engaged in the international transportation of crude oil.

24 Mar 2015

EPA: MTU Must Audit Emissions Testing

MTU America Inc., a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG, will implement an auditing program to ensure proper emissions testing and compliance with federal emission standards for its heavy-duty diesel non-road engines as part of a settlement to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice and announced today. The complaint filed with the settlement alleges that MTU violated the Clean Air Act by selling 895 non-road, heavy-duty diesel engines, which are used in mining, marine and power generation vehicles and equipment, without valid certificates of conformity. EPA voided the certificates of conformity purporting to cover the engines based on improper emissions testing by MTU employees.

25 Feb 2015

Chief Engineer Sentenced for Pollution Violations

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein (Photo courtesy of: USDOJ)

Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Noly Torato Vidad of the Philippines, the Chief Engineer of the cargo vessel M/V Selene Leader, to eight months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for obstruction of justice and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division John C. Cruden; and Coast Guard Captain Kevin Kiefer, Captain of the Port of Baltimore.

04 Feb 2015

Ship Operator Fined $1.8m for Oil Discharge

The Hachiuma Steamship Co., LTD pleaded guilty January 30 to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), arising from the failure to maintain an accurate oil record book concerning the illegal disposal of oil residue and bilge water overboard the cargo vessel M/V Selene Leader. Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Hachiuma Steamship to pay $1.8 million, and placed it on probation for three years during which it is to develop an environmental compliance program. The plea and sentence were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division John C. Cruden; and Coast Guard Captain Kevin Kiefer, Captain of the Port of Baltimore.

22 Oct 2009

Ship Operator Pleads Guilty, Concealing Pollution

A Panamanian company that operated a 40,000-ton oil tanker ship that regularly made calls in multiple ports in Texas pleaded guilty Oct. 21 in federal court in Houston for deliberately concealing pollution discharges from the ship directly into the sea, the Justice Department announced. Styga Compania Naviera S.A., the operator of the M/T Georgios M, pleaded guilty to three felony violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to properly maintain an oil record book as required by federal and international law. According to a plea agreement filed with U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the company has agreed to pay a $1m criminal fine along with a $250…

01 Oct 2009

Polembros Pleads Guilty, Pollution Charges

Polembros Shipping Ltd., a ship management company headquartered in Greece, pleaded guilty on Sept. 30 in federal court in New Orleans for violating anti-pollution laws, ship safety laws, and making false statements during a U.S. Coast Guard investigation of the M/V Theotokos, the Justice Department announced. According to the plea agreement, Polembros will pay a $2.7m criminal fine and a separate $100,000 community service payment to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, a subunit of Smithsonian Institute. The money will be used to research and mitigate the effects of marine invasive species suspected to be transported in ballast waters of ocean-going vessels. Invasive species can threaten native species and damage the ecosystems of the United States.

04 Sep 2009

Liberian Ocean Shipping Co. Admits Wrongdoing

A Liberian-incorporated shipping company pleaded guilty in federal court in Trenton, N.J., to failing to keep accurate oily water discharge records and using falsified records to conceal the discharge at sea of untreated bilge from one of its cargo ships, the Justice Department announced. Dalnave Navigation Inc., a Liberian company with offices in Athens, Greece, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan immediately after the guilty plea to pay a fine of $1m, the maximum fine allowable for the two counts to which the company pleaded guilty. Additionally, the company agreed to pay a $350,000 community service payment to the congressionally-established National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to be used specifically for the protection…

31 Jul 2009

Third Crewmember Pleads Guilty

A Greek citizen who oversaw the engineering department on board a Dominica-flagged bulk cargo ship pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in New Orleans for violating environmental laws designed to prevent pollution from ships and making false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard, the Justice Department announced. Georgios Stamou, the chief engineer of the M/V Theotokos, pleaded guilty to one felony violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and one felony violation for making a false statement. Stamou is the third crewmember to plead guilty to crimes related to pollution from Theotokos while on the high seas. The captain of the ship, Panagiotis Lekkas, and the second ranking officer, Charles P. Posas, both pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts on July 15, 2009.

21 Jul 2009

Guilty Plea, Concealing Vessel Pollution

Panagiotis Stamatakis, the chief engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/V Myron N, and the second engineer, Dimitrios Papadakis, both citizens of Greece, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Trenton, N.J., to using falsified records that concealed improper discharges of untreated bilge waste from the cargo ship, the Justice Department announced. District Court Judge Peter G. Sheridan for the District of New Jersey scheduled sentencing for Sept. 8, 2009. Stamatakis and Papadakis each faces up to six years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The government's investigation began in September 2008, when inspectors from the U.S. Coast Guard conducted an examination of the M/V Myron N, following the ship's arrival in Gravesend Anchorage, N.Y.

20 Jul 2009

Prison Sentence For Cosco Busan Pilot

John Joseph Cota, the pilot who caused the Cosco Busan, a 900-ft long container ship, to collide with the San Francisco Bay Bridge and discharge approximately 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay, was sentenced to serve 10 months in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston for the Northern District of California, the Justice Department announced. Cota, who was a licensed bar pilot at the time of the collision, gave commands that caused the 65,131-ton Hong Kong-registered ship to collide with the bridge on Nov. 7, 2007. Cota was sentenced according to an agreement in which he pleaded guilty to negligently causing discharge of a harmful quantity of oil in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA)…

16 Jul 2009

Guilty Plea, Crimes Related to Pollution

A Greek citizen, Panagiotis Lekkas, the captain of the bulk cargo ship the M/V Theotokos, pleaded guilty to four felony counts in federal court in New Orleans for violating anti-pollution laws, ship safety laws and obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard investigation, the Justice Department announced. Additionally, a Philippine citizen, Charles P. Posas, the second highest officer onboard the M/V Theotokos, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of lying to the Coast Guard and violating recordkeeping laws aimed at reducing the risk of marine invasive species. Posas is the first individual ever charged under the anti-invasive species law, a law designed to mitigate the introduction of marine invasive species into waters of the United States.

07 May 2009

Chief Engineer Sentenced

Carmelo Oria, a Spanish citizen who was the chief engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/T Nautilus, was sentenced on May 6th in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts for maintaining inaccurate records that concealed a discharge of oil-contaminated water from the bilges of the M/T Nautilus, the Justice Department announced. Oria was sentenced to one month in prison, to be followed by supervised release for a term of two years and a $3,000 fine. Oria pleaded guilty on March 9, 2009, to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships based on his role in discharging oil-contaminated bilge water directly into the ocean from the M/T Nautilus and then failing to record the discharge in the ship's records. The government's investigation began in March 2008, when inspectors from the U.S.